hey ya'll
i was just in my daughter's room, strumming two chords and singing "there's something happening here..." that's all i know, so it couldn't be called a song, 'cuz songs take three chords and the truth (as the age-old saying goes). i guess it was a bit-of-a ditty or something. either way, she finally got her sleepy but out of the bed to get ready for church.
i have a meeting today, so i'm gonna miss church. she's going to go with her grandmother, the same woman who took us all to church when we were lil' ones. my father, he didn't go a lot when we were little, but he died a deacon. i tell you, you just never know. i sometimes wonder, in a world where church has become such a big, corporate, world-matching part of everything we do, how much influence it still has over the kids.
look at it like this: when i was coming up, in a medium sized baptist church, "the world" was this kind of crazy place, something to be wary of in a watchful sense. it was something that could suck you up and brainwash you into become a dollar-chasing, materialistic, soul-less zombie. the message was simple: "seek ye first the kingdom of God," etc.
but now, it's the church people who have the most expensive cars; the pastors have mansions and planes and 15 thousand dollar watches...AND it all now is a demonstration of living "in God's divine purpose," which is for us to be wealthy. i'm not preacher-bashing. i've done that to all of us before. i'm just asking the question: if, in the end, the almighty dollar is the measure of success, then what makes the difference between the church and the world? is it the PRODUCT that makes one wealthy (i.e., a hip-hop cd vs. gospel or a self-help book vs. a porn video, both of which are addictive) that makes the difference?
weigh in and tell me what you think. i'm going to ponder these things during my meeting, and i'll compare notes with ya'll and see what we come up with.
o
